Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Purchases 26,033 Shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) by 550.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,761 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 26,033 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $2,378,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new position in Nasdaq in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Nasdaq during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Nasdaq by 106.6% during the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 436 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new position in Nasdaq during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, TCTC Holdings LLC bought a new position in Nasdaq during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nasdaq Stock Up 0.8%

Nasdaq stock traded up $0.62 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $81.90. The stock had a trading volume of 5,144,712 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,901,743. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $75.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $77.92. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 1-year low of $58.28 and a 1-year high of $84.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.99.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.22 billion. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 14.82% and a net margin of 15.10%. Nasdaq's revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.63 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. This is an increase from Nasdaq's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Nasdaq's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nasdaq

In other news, EVP Sarah Youngwood sold 14,959 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.68, for a total transaction of $1,102,179.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 59,694 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,398,253.92. The trade was a 20.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 657 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.81, for a total value of $47,179.17. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 61,980 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,450,783.80. This represents a 1.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NDAQ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Nasdaq from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Nasdaq from $87.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Nasdaq from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $95.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Nasdaq from $84.00 to $75.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $86.50.

About Nasdaq

Nasdaq, Inc operates as a technology company that serves capital markets and other industries worldwide. It operates in three segments: Capital Access Platforms, Financial Technology, and Market Services. The Capital Access Platforms segment sells and distributes historical and real-time market data; and develops and licenses Nasdaq-branded indices and financial products.